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Difficulty: MediumManifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

"To Texas the reunion is important, because the strong protecting arm of our Government would be extended over her, and the character of her people will guarantee to her a rapid progress and many blessings... Our Union is a confederation of independent States, whose policy is peace with each other and all the world. To enlarge its limits is to extend the dominions of peace over additional territories and increasing millions. The world has nothing to fear from military ambition in our Government."

— President James K. Polk, Inaugural Address, 1845

Which of the following historical developments in the late 1840s most directly challenged Polk’s assertion that territorial expansion would "extend the dominions of peace"?

  1. A
    The immediate implementation of popular sovereignty as a federally mandated policy to automatically ban slavery in all northern territories.
  2. The escalation of political divisions and sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery into newly acquired western lands.Answer
  3. C
    The creation of a formal military alliance between the United States and newly independent Latin American republics to deter European colonization.
  4. D
    The outbreak of armed conflicts along the Canadian border over tariff rates on manufactured goods.

Answer

The escalation of political divisions and sectional conflict over the expansion of slavery into newly acquired western lands.
The correct option is correct because Polk's assertion that territorial expansion would extend peace was directly undermined by the severe political and sectional crises that erupted over whether slavery would be permitted in the territories gained from Mexico and the annexation of Texas. Rather than securing peace, expansion catalyzed the divisions that led to the Civil War.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the perspective of the speaker in the provided excerpt.
President Polk argues that territorial expansion (specifically the annexation of Texas) promotes domestic and global peace by spreading democratic republicanism.
Understanding the source's main claim is necessary to identify what historical development directly contradicts or challenges it.
2
Identify the historical events of the late 1840s that immediately followed the annexation of Texas.
The United States fought the Mexican-American War and acquired vast new territories through the Mexican Cession.
This establishes the timeline and actual consequences of the territorial expansion Polk advocated.
3
Determine which of those events directly disrupted the domestic 'peace' Polk described.
The prospect of organizing the new western territories reopened intense debates over the status of slavery, leading to crises like the Wilmot Proviso debate and the Compromise of 1850, which pushed the nation closer to civil war.
This matches the historical reality of the late 1840s against Polk's optimistic claim that expansion would extend the 'dominions of peace.'

Key Concept

Sectional tensions resulting from westward expansion
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Manifest Destiny and Westward Expansion

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